Case Study
UST helps global sporting goods manufacturer embrace cloud transformation with SAP technology stack
OUR CLIENT
This American multinational sporting goods company designs, manufactures, markets, and sells equipment, accessories, and clothing. It also owns a related amusement and event business. The company employs over 20,000 people and generates approximately $1 billion in annual revenue.
THE CHALLENGE
Migrating on-premises SAP ERP to cloud-based SAP S/4HANA
Our client had a mature, complex SAP ERP application footprint that dated back to the early 2000s. The company wanted to migrate from on-premises infrastructure to the SAP S/4HANA cloud-based ERP solution suite, SAP Commerce Cloud, and several other non-SAP applications to modernize its IT infrastructure and take advantage of the many benefits of cloud applications. To avoid expensive customizations, the manufacturing company wanted to undertake an organizational transformation effort to adjust processes, roles, and responsibilities to adhere strictly to SAP best practices. IT leaders at the company wanted a seasoned SAP partner to lead the project.
THE TRANSFORMATION
Conducting SAP best practices and Agile training paved the way for cloud transformation
To kick-off the initiative, UST educated the company’s IT and business stakeholders about following SAP’s best practice approach, including the ready-to-use, preconfigured solutions that are based on proven business processes; the flexible modules that accelerate and streamline the implementation; easier maintenance and service; and the structured guidance and functionality with enhancements and upgrades. UST also trained the company’s internal team on Agile development methodologies for the initial cloud migration and to maintain the SAP cloud applications long-term. With this critical knowledge, UST’s SAP experts helped the company reorganize its IT and line of business roles and responsibilities to align with the new SAP cloud applications.
From there, UST and the company’s internal team worked collaboratively to implement the applications in three sprints. The technology stack included SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC), SAP S/4HANA, SAP Customer Activity Repository, SAP Hybris, and GK Software’s OmniPOS. The team also implemented and integrated SAP Commerce with Adobe Commerce (formerly Adobe Magento) in a parallel project.
THE IMPACT
Gaining real-time visibility and insights to drive strategic change
After the SAP cloud migration and organizational transformation, the sporting goods manufacturer now has:
- Real-time supply chain visibility - to provide its retailer customers with more reliable delivery dates
- Flexibility to make strategic supply and demand course corrections - with an integrated, interactive demand planning and product allocation solution
- Real-time, data-driven decision support - to accelerate decisions across the enterprise
- Better customer service - because it can prioritize key accounts with reliable, data-driven product allocation strategies